Spiritual Nourishment

Servants of Al Muqeet understand the importance of spiritual nourishment i.e. Dhikr!

Bismillah

Two days ago, I was reading different passages of the Qur’an and a light bulb 💡 turned on in me 😊. 

In Baqarah, Allah Azza Wajal tells us to remember Him and He will remember us (152). In the very next ayah, He tells us to seek help with sabr and salah (153). In surah Taha, He tells Musa Alayhi Salaam that He has chosen him so he should worship Him alone and establish salaah for His remembrance (li dhikri) (20:13&14).

A few pages later, He reminds us of our parents Adama and Hawa A.S and how they ended up leaving Jannah. The advice given to them as they left Jannah was: 

قَالَ اهْبِطَا مِنْهَا جَمِيعًا بَعْضُكُمْ لِبَعْضٍ عَدُوٌّ فَإِمَّا يَأْتِيَنَّكُم مِّنِّي هُدًى فَمَنِ اتَّبَعَ هُدَايَ فَلَا يَضِلُّ وَلَا يَشْقَىٰ

(Allah) said:”Get you down (from the Paradise to the earth), both of you, together, some of you are an enemy to some others. Then if there comes to you guidance from Me, then whoever follows My Guidance shall neither go astray, nor fall into distress and misery (20:123).

Then in the next ayah, after telling us that following the guidance from Him (Qur’an and Sunnah) will save us from going astray and from suffering distress and misery, He tells us that whoever turns away from  His remembrance (dhikri) will definitely live a life of hardship and depression and will be blind on the Day of resurrection!

So my dear sisters, without the remembrance of Allah there is no safety in this life and the next! 

Ibn Kathir in his tafsir explained the aforementioned ayah as follows:

﴿فَإِنَّ لَهُ مَعِيشَةً ضَنكاً﴾

(verily, for him is a life of hardship,) meaning, his life will be hard in this world. He will have no tranquillity and no expanding of his breast (ease). Rather, his chest will be constrained and in difficulty due to his misguidance. Even if he appears to be in comfort outwardly and he wears whatever he likes, eats whatever he likes and lives wherever he wants, he will not be happy. For verily, his heart will not have pure certainty and guidance. He will be in agitation, bewilderment and doubt. He will always be in confusion and a state of uncertainty. This is from the hardship of life.

In just a few minutes that day, I saw Dhikr, the remembrance of Allah, in a different light.

I see even better now how it is associated with the help of Allah (Salah and Him remembering us) with guidance, with safety in this life and the next, with tranquility as per the ayah in surah 13. It is our protection, our shield, our fortress because it is the only thing that pushes away the shaytan that is perched on our hearts (refer to Ibn Kathir explanation of surah An Naas). 

In shaa Allah next week I am hosting a free webinar for my sisters on June 19th at 6:30 pm EST. Click on the picture below to join us for free in shaa Allah. I will be uncovering some of the plots of the devil along with ways to guard ourselves. And yes, you guessed right, Dhikr is the first thing we will go over as a protection tool bi idhnillah.

We need Dhikr in our lives sisters! We can not purify our heart without Dhikr! How can we live a sound life in Dunya and in the Akhirah  and go back to Allah with a qalb that is salim, a sound heart, without the remembrance of Allah? How can we go to Jannah without Dhikr? 

SubhanAllah the quote of Ibn Taymiyyah is making more and more sense to me! May Allah make us of the Dhaakiraat (women who remember Him a Lot!) Aaameen! 

وَمَنْ أَعْرَضَ عَن ذِكْرِي فَإِنَّ لَهُ مَعِيشَةً ضَنكًا وَنَحْشُرُهُ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ أَعْمَىٰ

“But whosoever turns away from My Reminder (i.e. neither believes in this Quran nor acts on its orders, etc.) verily, for him is a life of hardship, and We shall raise him up blind on the Day of Resurrection.” (20:124).

And Allah Azza Wajal, Al ‘Aleem knows best.

Your sister

Binta Umm Yahya